I Was Received By A Servant,
Who Escorted Me Through A Long Narrow Corridor The Length Of
Winthrop Place And
Consigned me to another who escorted me in his
turn, through another wider corridor to the foot of a flight
Of
stairs which I ascended and found another servant, who took my cloak
and showed me into the grand corridor or picture gallery; a noble
apartment of interminable length; and surrounded by pictures of the
best masters. General Bowles, the Master of the Household, came
forward to meet me, and Lord Byron, who is one of the Lords in
Waiting. I found Madam Lisboa already arrived, and soon came in
Lord and Lady Palmerston, the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis and
Marchioness of Exeter, Lord and Lady Dalhousie, Lord Charles
Wellesley, son of the Duke of Wellington, Lady Byron, and Mr.
Hallam. We sat and talked as at any other place, when at last the
Queen was announced. The gentlemen ranged themselves on one side,
and we on the other, and the Queen and Prince passed through, she
bowing, and we profoundly curtseying. As soon as she passed the
Marquis of Exeter came over and took Madam Lisboa, and Lord
Dalhousie came and took me. The Queen and Prince sat in the middle
of a long table, and I was just opposite the Prince, between Lord
Exeter and Lord Dalhousie, who is the son of the former Governor of
Nova Scotia, was in the last ministry, and a most agreeable person.
I talked to my neighbors as at any other dinner, but the Queen spoke
to no one but Prince Albert, with a word or two to the Duke of
Norfolk, who was on her right, and is the first peer of the realm.
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